Guarding the Secret
by LadyDunla
Summary: There is one thing the guards of Camelot can actually guard... Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1 - The door

**Hello everyone! This is just a piece that had been sitting in my head for quite a while. It's just my idea of why the guards of Camelot are as "useless" as they are. Enjoy and please leave me a review to let me know what you think.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin (obviously).**

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**Guarding the secret**

Allan turned around in his bed, hoping to block out the light of day a little longer by pulling the blankets and pillow both over his head. It was of course no use at all. The daylight crept in whether he liked it or not.

'Get out,' his wife told him. 'You're on duty today.'

Didn't he know it. Allan was a guard in the castle of Camelot, and quite a senior one at that. He had the command over two dozen men if his superior called in sick, which he did quite a lot, although it was up for discussion as to how he came to be ill so often. Most fellow guards suspected his alcohol consumption had something to do with it.

'I don't want to,' he moaned, tugging the pillow tighter over his head, conveniently forgetting how childish that sounded.

His wife however had no compassion for him. She roughly shoved him out of the bed and onto the stone floor, making him shout an incoherent protest. But he was out now anyway, so he'd better get dressed before he froze. Winter held Camelot tightly in its grip and he was scheduled to spend the day standing still. To make it even worse he was forced to stand still outside, in front of the main entrance to the castle. By the time he would come home he was likely to have forgotten that he had actually fingers, feet, ears and nose attached to his body.

But that was not the worst part, he admitted to himself as he dressed and snatched some cold breakfast to eat as he made his way to the castle. The cold he could handle. He was used to it and at least he had his wife's delicious cooking to look forward to at the end of the day. No, the worst part was that he had to stand guard duty with a new guy. No, forget the guy. He was all but a boy, not even out of his teens. Allan had seen him the previous day when he had first reported: one piece of energy and enthusiasm, eager to do his duty to king and kingdom. Unfortunately he was also as naïve as he was enthusiastic, with no clue as to how things were done in Camelot. And of course it would be up to Allan to explain everything. He would have moaned again had there not been anyone else in sight.

He reported to his superior, who failed to be ill today of all days. Had he been absent Allan might have been able to get someone else to stand in for him, which not only saved him from spending the day with the new boy, but also had the added bonus of spending the day inside, by the hot fire.

One look at the kid was enough to confirm his worst assumptions about the latest recruit. He was practically bouncing up and down, shaking Allan's hand with more enthusiasm than anyone had a right to be so early in the morning.

'What do we do today, sir?' the youngster asked. He might have been asking that before. Allan couldn't be sure. The boy hadn't shut up since he had walked into his line of sight. The elderly guard had only picked up the most relevant information, like the boy's name (Tom) and age (eighteen years and seven months to be exact).

'We guard the door,' Allan replied with calm dignity, hoping the boy would take the hint and look at it as an example of how a guard of Camelot should behave.

The enthusiasm wavered a bit for a moment, before coming back in full strength, although it did look a bit forced now. 'That sounds interesting, sir.'

Poor guy. He had no idea, had he? Allan assumed he was just one of those naïve kids who believed they were destined to save the realm from dangerous monsters and get knighted for their troubles. Allan had seen his like come and go over the years. Some of them grew up eventually, others, most of them, left disappointed when they realised that being a guard wasn't quite that heroic.

He measured Tom up as they took their positions next to the door, each taking one side. By the looks of things Tom would not last a week here. He was already shivering with the cold, looking rather crestfallen when he realised there was not a monster in sight. Allan smiled smugly. _Not what you expected, is it, lad?_

Unfortunately his smugness was short-lived, because a magical creature with wings landed in the courtyard and made for the people in it. The elderly guard sighed wearily. He should have been expecting something like this might happen. After all, it had been two full weeks since the last attack had taken place. If his memory had served him right it had been an evil sorcerer that time who had, how predictably, gone after the king. Ten to one this thing, whatever it was supposed to be, had set its sights on him as well.

He watched quite relaxed as the civilians quite organised ran for cover. It was nothing new to them either, so the running had become something of a routine for them. Nobody was actually panicking. They saved that for when something really dangerous, like Morgana, made an appearance.

No, the only one panicking here was Tom. He stared at Allan with wide eyes. 'Why are you standing there?' he demanded.

Allan corrected his assessment of the recruit's state of mind. He wasn't panicking, he was anxious to do something. He moaned, out loud this time. That kind was usually the worst. 'Because we are guarding the door,' he replied calmly.

'But those people…?' The tone was now more puzzled than anything else.

'Can take care of themselves,' Allan finished. Most of them had cleared out of here anyway.

'And the monster?' The boy had grabbed his weapon tightly. The will to fight was burning in his eyes. Oh, he was really eager, this one. 'Shouldn't we try and kill it?'

Allan calmly shook his head, taking one look at the monster who had taken to terrorising the only group of people still in the square. The monster had them cornered and some of them were starting to show signs of alarm. 'No,' he answered. 'That's what the knights are for.'

'But those people are in danger!' The tone was laced with righteous indignation. Tom really had a lot still left to learn.

He sighed. 'The knights will be here any minute now,' Allan told the kid. And when he once again got an incredulous look for that statement he added: 'Let's say we do it your way and we attack the monster, then who will guard the door?'

The youngster clearly hadn't thought about that. A deep frown appeared on his forehead. 'Nobody, sir.'

'That's right,' Allan nodded. 'So that is why we stay here and guard the door.' Maybe this was his lucky day after all. Tom seemed to get it already.

But of course he wasn't that lucky. A thoughtful look had appeared in Tom's eyes. 'And if the monster makes for this door?'

Allan was tempted to roll his eyes at the obvious hopefulness in the boy's voice and eyes. '_Then_ we may fight it,' he admitted.

Of course it didn't come to that. It never did. It was only ten seconds later that the Knights of the Round Table rushed out into the courtyard, led by the young king Arthur, who, naturally, took the lead in the attack. The whole scene was so horribly predictable that he seriously considered doing something more interesting than watching the fight, like counting birds or something like that.

But he thought of the impression that might make on his new recruit and decided against it. Let's not push it on his first day. So he watched the fight, noting with interest that this time it was sir Gwaine and not king Arthur who was the last man standing. But eventually and inevitably he too was flung through the air, landing on the ground in an unconscious heap.

'Sir?' Tom sounded a bit frightened now. 'They're all down, sir!'

Allan leaned on his spear with practised ease. 'I can see that.'

'So, what do we do now, sir?'

'Now we guard the door,' Allan responded.

'But…' Tom seemed to be at a loss for words. 'What about the knights? The people? The monster?'

He began to get a little impatient now. 'Has the monster made for this door, Tom?'

'No, sir.'

'Then we remain at our post. Merlin will take care of the rest.'

Now that caused the kid's eyebrows to shoot up. 'Merlin?'

'The king's manservant,' Allan clarified. 'I think he will be here soon. Ah, there he is.'

And indeed said servant rushed through the door into the square, took in the scene and then made a beeline for the king. 'Arthur!' he shouted in a tone that suggested that the world had just ended.

Allan snorted. Didn't that boy know better by now? King Arthur was never killed by a magical monster before. He wouldn't suddenly start doing so now.

But at least Merlin wasn't the only one feeling distressed today. Tom too was obviously on edge, staring at the scene with wide eyes. His entire posture betrayed he would like to do nothing more than to run out there and skewer the monster and save the day, although how he thought to succeed at that when even the knights had failed was entirely beyond Allan.

'Can't we do something?' he all but begged.

'We _are_ doing something,' Allan pointed out. 'We are guarding the door.' This was why he hated working with new recruits. They never seemed to be able to get their priorities right. All they ever wanted to do was slaying monsters and be hailed a hero. But the Camelot guard was no place for heroes. That was a prerogative of the knights and king. The guards only did their duty and would never get any credit for it. And the sooner Tom learned that, the better it would be for him.

'But we should be helping them!' Tom exclaimed, forgetting all his dignity – not that he had any to begin with – and throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

'No, we should not,' Allan disagreed. 'The commander told us we should guard the door so that is what we shall be doing and nothing else.'

Tom's incoherent protest died away as the monster demanded their attention once again.

It had now spotted Merlin and made to attack him. The manservant glared at the beast. 'You will not touch him,' he stated, moving protectively in front of the king.

The beast growled and moved closer, which was a very foolish thing to do in Allan's opinion. Tom however seemed to fear more for Merlin than for the beast. He held his spear so tightly his knuckles turned white.

'Go away,' Merlin warned the monster. 'I won't let you touch him.'

The monster unwisely ignored that too, moving ever closer.

'Then you leave me no choice,' Merlin sighed. He held out his hand and blasted the monster to pieces without batting as much as an eyelid. Then he calmly grabbed the king and started to drag him away, no doubt to take him to see Gaius, as usual.

In the meantime Tom appeared to suffer a heart attack. His face was a deathly pale and he looked like he had seen a ghost, still staring at the spot where the monster had been only a minute ago.

'You all right, lad?' Allan asked.

'He… he used magic!' the boy stammered.

'I am well aware,' the elderly guard nodded.

The frown was firmly back in place now. 'Shouldn't we be telling someone?'

Now it was Allan's turn to frown. 'And why on earth would we do that?' he wondered.

'Well, magic is outlawed, isn't it, sir?' The kid looked at him as if he was one hundred percent convinced his superior had lost his mind.

'Were you ordered to report a case of magic, Tom?' Allan asked patiently.

'No, sir.' He looked quite taken aback by that. 'But…'

Allan cut him off. 'Indeed,' he said forcefully. 'You were ordered to guard the door, and that is what you shall do.'

It really wasn't that hard to understand, was it? In fact, it always was very simple to Allan. But Tom gave the, probably very accurate impression, of someone who just had his world turned upside down. 'But…' he began again.

The elderly guard now felt something of pity for him. After all, it was only his first day. He could go easy on him just this once and so he decided to share some guards wisdom with him. 'What do you think we guards are here for, Tom?'

'To protect the kingdom.' The answer was immediate and without hesitation.

'No, we are here to guard things,' Allan corrected. 'You were told that upon arrival, weren't you?'

'Yes, sir.' The boy was clearly disappointed.

'That is what we do,' Allan explained. 'We guard this kingdom. Today we guard the door, but there is always something else that we guard as well.'

Now that peeked Tom's interest. 'And what is that, sir?'

Allan was a little surprised he even needed to ask. 'Why, secrets of course!' he exclaimed.

Some understanding now started dawning on Tom's face indeed. He nodded thoughtfully. 'I see,' he said.

'That's right,' Allan said, relieved that it took so little to make the boy see sense. He had taken him for one of those stubborn I-want-to-save-the-world kind of guy. He might just be lucky. 'So, what will you do now?'

And Tom straightened his back, raised his head and held his spear up right. 'I will guard the door, sir.'

And Allan smiled. He would go far in this job.

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**I'm considering turning this into a two-shot, but it may be a while before I can upload that. In the meantime, please review?**


	2. Chapter 2 - The dungeons

**And here's the second and last instalment. I really hope you'll like this as well. Let me know, please!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Five years later**

It was bitter cold when Tom made his way to the castle. The snow lay almost three inches thick in the streets. No doubt the amount would have doubled by the time he would go home again. He shivered and tugged his cloak tighter around him. Not that it was much use. The wind seemed to blow straight through the piece of clothing. He felt like he was actually naked here.

But the cold was not the reason, not the only reason anyway, why he had hated going to his job today. True, he was scheduled to guard the dungeons today, so at least he had access to a burning fire, food and drink. And the dungeons were rather empty these last few weeks, so there wasn't much to worry about in that department either.

'Good morning, Tom,' a cheerful voice greeted.

'Is it?' he muttered darkly before he realised who he was talking to. 'Sir,' he added, a little too late.

Allan, Captain of the Guard since six months earlier, smiled indulgently. 'Come on, Tom, it can't be that bad.'

'Have you seen him?' Tom asked his superior.

Stupid question, he knew the next second. Allan was the Captain. He was bound to have seen the new recruit. And indeed. 'Why, yes of course,' the elderly guard replied with an amused twinkle in his eyes. 'Young, eager, bouncy, dutiful. He reminds me a bit of you on your first day.'

Tom grimaced at the memory. Truth be told, he had been rather naïve back then, completely unaware of the many customs and traditions that went with being a guard of Camelot. His behaviour on that eventful first day now made him blush in shame. But he'd rather not have Allan see that either, so he tried to deflect it with a joke. 'Does he have heroic tendencies as well then?' he inquired. 'Sir.'

The only flaw Tom had was that he used to forget to address his superiors with a respectful 'sir.' Fortunately for him he didn't have that much superiors these days. He had been offered Allan's old spot when the man who had it now would retire. That happy occasion was only three months away and Tom was counting the days. Not only would he have achieved a high post in only five years of service, he would also be rid of the most annoying (and stinking) guard Camelot had ever known.

But he had to survive today first and that was a job in and out of itself. Tom could see the new recruit standing on the other end of the room, driving one of his colleagues to despair by his enthusiastic behaviour. He all but bounced around the room in enthusiasm. His uniform was spotless, his boots polished until they shone and he even seemed to have given his weapon all the care as well.

'I would certainly think so,' Allan replied. He gave his protégé a fatherly pat on the shoulder. 'There's not much that can go wrong, lad. The dungeons are all but empty. I don't think you'll have much trouble.'

Tom raised his eyebrows. 'Was that what you told yourself as well on my first day, sir?'

Allan laughed and gave him a half-hearted shove in the right direction. 'Off you go, boy.'

And off he went, with the new recruit trailing after him like an eager puppy. Tom wondered if he would run and fetch if he threw a stick, but decided against it. It was his job to behave with dignity. As guard he represented the kingdom and one didn't make a mess of something as important as that.

He settled himself on one of the chairs near the entrance of the dungeons and looked around him. The new recruit, whose name was Will (the only thing he had been able to make out from the boy's ramblings), had remained standing, looking at Tom in what appeared to be bewilderment.

'What is it, boy?' Tom demanded.

'I mean no disrespect, sir, but shouldn't we be guarding the dungeons, sir?' came the reply.

Tom was tempted to moan, very much so. It was one of those again, wasn't it? This was going to be a long day. 'We are guarding the dungeons, young man,' he said in as condescending a voice as he could muster.

He only succeeded in making the lad's confusion even greater than it already was. 'But this is only the entrance, sir!'

'I am well aware,' Tom nodded, copying one of Allan's better lines.

'But shouldn't we be guarding all of the area, sir?' The boy seemed to be at a loss for words as he threw his hands up in the air.

'We are doing that,' Tom pointed out. 'This is the one and only entrance to the dungeons. Everyone who wants to get in and out needs to go past us. If we were in there, then the entrance would be unguarded and anyone would be able to walk in and out at will.'

'I see,' Will said, even when his tone indicated he didn't understand anything at all. 'So, what do we do, sir?'

'We guard the dungeons, of course.' And Tom hoped to God that was really the most exciting thing happening here today. He didn't know how well he would be able to handle such an eventful day as his first one in service had been. How Allan had ever managed to cope with him was entirely beyond him.

Will looked a bit disappointed, although he did his best to hide it. He sat himself down on the other chair. He kept his back straight and his eyes kept searching the room for any disturbance of the peace, after which they locked again on the entrance to the dungeon. In the end he decided to let Will carry out his round to see if all prisoners were still in their proper places, if only to be rid of him for a few minutes. It was the kid's first day, so he figured he could go a little easy on him for once. And at least it seemed to put Will's nerves to rest when he could see for himself everything was as it should be.

Tom sighed. He couldn't explain all of Camelot's customs to Will all in one day, even if he wanted to, which he didn't. Some things one had to learn over time. The fact that guarding the dungeons was nothing short of boring nine out of ten times was one of those things.

But of course it was one of those rare days when something actually happened. It was only an hour later that two guards marched down the stairs, holding Merlin between them. The king's manservant had a resigned look on his face, mixed with irritation and weariness.

Will was already on his feet before Tom had even been able to start to give him the command to do so. 'What is this?' he demanded, conveniently forgetting that Tom was the senior guard around here, giving him the privilege to ask questions. Eager indeed!

Merlin frowned at the boy. 'Are you new here?' he wondered. 'I haven't seen your face around here before.'

Will was temporarily lost for words, shocked by the fact that a prisoner addressed him in that way, and Tom took advantage of the situation. 'What is it this time?' he asked in mock weariness.

Merlin gave him a wry grin in reply. 'It would seem that I attempted to poison the king,' he said, making Will gasp in shock.

Tom shook his head in mild despair. Honestly, you'd say that Merlin's loyalty to the king would be proven beyond all doubt by now. But then, it would seem that the guards were the only ones to ever notice all the incredible things the servant had done over the years. And sometimes the king really was blind to what happened right under his very nose.

In his early days in Camelot Tom had sometimes been very frustrated with it all. He may not have the chance to do heroic things, but Merlin was doing them on an almost daily basis. He deserved to get some credit for his efforts. But he could not go and inform the king and council of the servant's remarkable deeds. After all, the guards guarded the secrets of the castle and its inhabitants. It was an unspoken rule of their order.

He raised his eyebrows. 'Really?' he asked, before addressing his colleagues. 'What were you ordered to do?'

'We were ordered to lock him up, sir,' replied the youngest, even though he was only two years Tom's junior.

'Then that is what you must do,' Tom nodded. 'You know the way, don't you?'

The guards marched on with Merlin still sandwiched between them and Tom sat back on the chair.

Of course Will was the one that remained standing, staring after the prisoner and his guards in confusion. 'Shouldn't that be our job, sir?' he asked.

And there we go again. 'Were you ordered to escort the prisoner to a cell, Will?' You'd say that the guy would understand by now, but apparently not.

That question was met by more bewilderment. Keep this up and it would be his default setting. 'No, sir. I don't believe so, sir.'

Tom nodded. 'Right you are. Care to inform me of your orders, boy?'

'We were ordered to guard the dungeons, sir,' the lad replied obediently.

'That is true,' Tom said, starting to hope now that the new recruit wasn't as dim as he had first believed. 'We were ordered to guard the dungeons and those other guards were ordered to lock up the prisoner. It is perfectly simple.'

Will obviously disagreed, but thought it wiser not to argue. He too now sat down, even if he remained on high alert. Tom mostly ignored him. To be quite honest he had better things to do with his precious time, like eating his lunch. That was one of the advantages of standing guard in the dungeons: you didn't need to stand all the time. You could sit down and eat and drink and play a game of dice and you would still be doing your duty. Had he had guard duty with anyone else, this might have been a very pleasant day indeed.

As it was, it wasn't all that pleasant. Will tried and failed to hide his disapproval when he saw his superior dig into a nice meal, making himself at home here. This boy was rather arrogant as well as eager, Tom observed. He remained seated up right, scanning the place for danger as if he was saying that this was how a real guard of Camelot should behave. Yet for all his arrogance he also was as naïve as a new-born babe, causing Tom to almost laugh out loud.

For one glorious hour he was allowed to entertain the thought that Merlin being locked up was the most exciting thing that was happening that day. Alas, he was wrong.

He had just finished his lunch when an old man with long white hair and a white beard, dressed in long red robes, came walking out of the dungeons.

_Ah, hello again, Merlin_, Tom thought. He had seen the servant pull this stunt several times before and yet it remained a remarkable feat. Merlin of course was blissfully unaware that all the guards, with the exception of this new recruit, knew about all his secrets, which was probably just as well. Knowing might just end in a heart attack, taken into account how desperately he had been hiding his magic from the rest of the world.

The new recruit was already on his feet, pointing his sword at Merlin's chest. 'Who are you?' he demanded.

'What kind of a dumb question is that?' Merlin wondered. 'I am who I am and I am who I was and I am who I will always be.'

Tom just leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. He could of course step in, but maybe it was better to let Will handle this himself, give him a taste of what guarding in Camelot was really like.

So far, the boy was still trying to be the heroic guard who tried to capture a runaway prisoner, hoping to get the glory for doing so. 'What are you doing here?'

Merlin measured him up and ended that examination with a dismissive snort. 'None of your business, young man.'

Will straightened his back. 'I am a guard of Camelot. You will tell me, old man.' He had yet to put his sword away.

Tom decided to step in before things could get really nasty. 'Leave the old man alone, Will,' he told him.

Said boy stared at him, his jaw almost hitting the floor.

Tom ignored that. 'Lost again, old man?' he inquired politely.

'Yes of course,' Merlin snapped. 'As you perfectly well know.'

'I trust you know your way from here, then?'

'Of course I do,' Merlin barked at him. 'I'm not an idiot.' This claim was followed by a meaningful look in Will's direction. Tom couldn't even blame him for that, not really.

His new recruit turned to him as Merlin purposefully marched out of the dungeons, in all likeliness off to save the day, or king Arthur's life, or both. That was his job after all, as it was his job to keep Merlin's activities a secret.

'You let him escape!' came the accusing voice.

Tom sighed deeply and prepared himself for another lesson. 'I did not,' he replied.

'He came out of the dungeons, so he must have been escaping,' Will insisted. 'We should catch him!'

'Were you ordered to?' Tom countered.

The boy shot him an incredulous look. 'We have to guard the dungeons!' he exclaimed.

'Indeed,' Tom nodded. 'So, tell me, did this man attack the dungeons?'

'He didn't, but…'

The higher ranking guard didn't give him the chance to finish that sentence. 'Did he attack us?'

'No, he didn't, but…'

'Was this man a prisoner in our dungeons?' Tom went on.

It was silent for a moment as Will dragged up the memory of who exactly had been in those dungeons. When he reached his conclusion he replied with a hesitant 'I don't think so, sir.'

'Right you are,' Tom said. 'He wasn't a prisoner, so why would we chase after him, eh?'

He got to enjoy the look of sheer disbelief and confusion that now graced the boy's face before the next question was hurled at him. 'But he had to come from somewhere, didn't he, sir? I mean, he wasn't in the dungeons before and we haven't seen him get in. Shouldn't we investigate where he came from?'

This one really was insistent about what he thought was his duty. 'I ask again: did he attack the dungeon?' He tried to contain the impatience in his voice, but he had a feeling he was failing.

'No, but…'

'Did he attack us?' Tom repeated.

'No, sir, but…'

Tom leaned once again back in his chair. 'So, now we have established he did not attack us nor the dungeons and he was not a prisoner. Care to repeat what our orders were?'

'We were ordered to guard the dungeons, sir.' The expected _but_ didn't come, but Tom could see Will was still dying to demand they do as he wished.

'Have we somehow been reluctant in that duty, boy?' Tom questioned, almost daring the kid to say yes.

'Well, that old man…' It wasn't downright defiance, but he still thought he was right.

'Was lost, Will,' Tom replied calmly. 'Don't you ever get lost?'

'Not in the dungeons I don't,' Will replied. 'Sir. I still think we should go after him.' His eyes already looked to the stairs. Tom supposed he only had to give the word and the boy would run after Merlin, like the eager puppy fetching the stick. The comparison seemed more accurate by the minute.

But his proposal was at least easily countered. 'Were you ordered to?'

'Ehm, no, sir.'

'That's right,' Tom agreed with a smug smile. 'Because if we got up to chase after an old man who wasn't even a prisoner, who would guard the dungeons then?'

And the penny finally dropped. 'No one would,' the boy realised. The shock of that, the thought of nobody being here because he wanted to be the prisoner-catching hero, that finally seemed to land the message home that this was not his job. Surely it would be something of a disappointment, like it had been to Tom when he had first found out that being a guard wasn't about catching the villains. That was the king's privilege after all.

'Indeed,' the experienced guard nodded. 'So, what will you do now, boy?'

And like he himself had done five years earlier this kid too now straightened his back and moved back to his chair with as much dignity as he could muster after Tom's rebuke. 'I guess I will just guard the dungeons, sir.'

And Tom smiled to himself. It would seem that Will wasn't as hopeless a case as he had feared. Who knows, in time he might even go far in his chosen career. Miracles never ceased, right?


End file.
